Goodbye Halcyon
by Miss Quartermain
Summary: Titania's experience in facing the death of a man she loved.  Part 1 of the Halcyon Tales.


A little drabble set after the event of the show. My thoughts on how Titania handled her mortal husband's death. Also, Jack Pook belongs to Gamine Madcap. I'm just borrowing him. I do not own anything related to Gargoyles.

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Titania gasped in horrified surprise and leaned heavily against the table, trying to find some sort of support as she stared at the messenger. She had known that Halcyon's condition was worsening, but she had never _dreamed_ that the end was so near for him…Her knees suddenly gave out and Titania collapsed into the seat nearest her, burying her face in her hands.

She had not been able to see Halcyon since the fateful night when Oberon had tried to take their grandson to Avalon. Now, with this news, she regretted that more than at any other time. For years she had meant to return to New York for the sole purpose of making things up to him, and now it was far too late. Tears filled her eyes at that thought and she whimpered low in her throat.

"My Lady?" the messenger, her servant Jack Pook, asked gently, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Is there anything that I can do for you?"

Shaking her head with a shaky smile, Titania sighed heavily. "Not unless you can cure Halcyon Renard of his illness, and not even you can do that, Pooka."

Jack looked genuinely upset by this as he softly squeezed her shoulder. He was very fond of his Queen, and would do anything to mend her broken heart if he could, but healing the illness of Titania's mortal ex-husband was beyond his powers. Sighing heavily, Jack moved to sit beside his Queen, hoping to lift her spirits somehow.

"Do you wish to see him? Before…before the end?" he asked quietly.

Looking into the eyes of her servant, Titania considered this for a moment. Could she face him like this, with Halcyon knowing what she was and what she had done with regards to their grandson? It might very well be the last chance that she would have to make things right with him…With a heavy sigh, Titania nodded.

"Yes. Take me to Halcyon Renard," she murmured as she stood, taking the form of Anastasia Renard.

Bowing low before Anastasia, Jack nodded and offered his arm to her. She accepted the offered arm and let her servant take her to the alleyway beside the hospital where Halcyon had been taken for his last hours. Seeing the austere façade of the hospital filled Titania's veins with ice water. Things must be truly dire if Halcyon allowed himself to be brought here. Or it had become so terrible that he couldn't make such decisions for himself…That thought made her feel even worse. If Vogel had been forced to make this decision…then things were truly terrible.

Turning to Jack, Titania forced a smile. "Go, Pooka. I will see myself in and out. Please…"

"Of course, my Queen." With another bow, Jack vanished, leaving Titania alone.

Looking at the hospital with a low whimper, Titania forced herself to arrange her expression into one of indifference as she entered the building. It would not do for her to appear affected by this news. Anastasia was supposed to be controlled and unaffected by distress. Walking up to the nurse at the reception, she calmly asked for where Halcyon Renard was, and briskly walked in the direction indicated.

She had thought that she was ready for this sight, but she had been so very wrong. At the moment, Halcyon was alone. Vogel was nowhere in sight, leaving Titania to assume that he had gone off to make a business call, and she was grateful for that much. Halcyon had been looking very weak and sickly for years now, but this was so much worse. He was positively emaciated in appearance, his breathing ragged and painful to listen to. Several machines were hooked up to him, and for one crazed moment Titania was gripped by the urge to tear them apart. Seeing those machines attached to _her_ mortal made her angry and heartbroken all at once. Thankfully, she managed to control that urge as she moved to sit beside the bed, taking Halcyon's frail hand in hers.

Her touch seemed to wake Halcyon, whose eyes fluttered open as he looked over at Titania. Holding her breath in anticipation, she met his gaze in fear. She expected him to try to pull away, to rage at her for what she had done, to do _something_. He did nothing of the sort. To her immense surprise, he gripped her hand as tightly as he could and made a sound like a whimper.

"Anastasia," he whispered, his voice cracked and tired, as though he had not spoken in months. "You finally came…"

The tears that Titania had been holding back since she had first appeared outside of the hospital finally began to flow as she pressed her lips to Halcyon's hand. "I am so…_so_ sorry, Halcyon…" she whispered. "I wish I had known sooner…I would have been here so much sooner…"

"Please…don't," Halcyon whispered brokenly. "Anastasia…"

"Yes…yes, I'm here," Titania murmured, squeezing his hand gently. "What is it? Do you need anything?"

Halcyon shook his head weakly and coughed. "No…Anastasia…I love you…"

Titania stared at him for a moment before bursting into fresh tears. She did not deserve this…she did not deserve such love from a man she had wronged.

"No tears…Anastasia…"

That was when he stopped talking. He was so tired and so weak…but Titania could not leave him. This was possibly the last time that she would ever have a chance to see Halcyon before he died. She was so wrapped up in holding Halcyon's hand that she did not notice when Vogel returned. Holding to his hand, she almost felt that she could keep him alive so long as she did not let go.

But not even that wish would come true. Nearly ten hours after Titania first arrived at the hospital, Halcyon Renard left the world of the living. By then, Titania did not shed any tears. She was too numb from loss to do so. As the nurse turned off the machines that had stopped beeping with Halcyon's death, Titania stood up and left the hospital. Fox would be arriving soon with David and Alexander, and they were the last people that Titania wished to face at this point. So she returned to Avalon, looking as though she had lost a part of her soul. Jack did not trouble her, and told the remainder of the Court to do the same. Queen Titania had lost someone very dear to her, he explained, and so she was left alone for a long time, allowing herself to mourn in peace.


End file.
